What the Frack?

The topic this week, boys and girls, is fracking. I know what you’re thinking. It sounds….dirty.

Or maybe that’s just what I thought when I first heard this word. My second thought, Could it be a possible Scrubs misquote?

http://www.tv.com/people/donald-faison/photos/262784/

Maybe not.

But as I was driving around town during Winter Break, I happened to catch this little piece on NPR. (For those of you philistines who don’t know, NPR stands for National Public Radio.)

Fracking Byproducts May Be Linked To Ohio Quakes : NPR.

The interview is less than 5 minutes long. Just listen to it, kids. Also, if you don’t know about NPR, take an opportunity to peruse the website and the fabulous productions they offer.  I find Garrison Keillor particularly soothing. (And charmingly odd.)

http://thelope.com/2005/09/prairie-lope-companion.html

When the fracking topic popped up in class, I already knew a little about it thanks to the broadcast. And I knew that there were possible down sides to this practice. Once again, in true college-student style, I went to youtube where I found this gem:

60 Minutes Video Piece on Dangers of Natural Gas Fracking – YouTube.

Now since this is the very first video in the search results, I think a lot of my fellow classmates will uncover it with ease. This is a good one too:

Fracking – Explained In Two Minutes – YouTube.

I hope you enjoyed the indeterminable accent of the narrator as much as I did. So here’s what we know about fracking:

1) Natural gas could relieve our dependence on foreign oil, because (as the 60 minutes piece notes) apparently we have enough natural gas here in the US to be the equivalent of “two Saudi Arabia’s worth of oil in the form of natural gas.” So, it’s immediately available and abundant.

2) The process of fracking extracts the natural gas. However, there are clearly issues of danger in the extraction process.

Additional concerns include:

Do Not Drink This Water! – YouTube.

Please note: I question Josh Fox’s sanity when he asks, “Can I try it?”

http://www.barfworld.com/html/IPEzine/IPEZ_072010.html

Why, sir? Why?!

This excerpt came from the documentary “Gasland” by Josh Fox which examines the fracking process and the environmental after-effects. As you can see by the image below, this documentary might be worth a watch, especially if you want to know the dirty secrets of fracking.

http://imaginepeace.com/archives/13304

So, at minimum, fracking can contaminate water supplies, run-off of chemicals can kill livestock, and drilling into faults can cause earthquakes.

Here’s the big question: even though natural gas is plentiful for us here in the US, is it worth the risks that arise to both the human race and the earth in favor of attempting to reduce our use of oil?

What do you think: Fracking? Tilting at windmills? Large solar panels?